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Transporter 2

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Transporter 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLouis Leterrier
Written by
Based onCharacters
by Luc Besson
Robert Mark Kamen
Produced by
  • Luc Besson
  • Steve Chasman
Starring
CinematographyMitchell Amundsen
Edited by
Music byAlexandre Azaria
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 3 August 2005 (2005-08-03) (France)
  • 2 September 2005 (2005-09-02) (United States)
Running time
88 minutes[3]
CountryFrance[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$32 million[4][2]
Box office$89.1 million[2]

Transporter 2 (French: Le Transporteur 2) is a 2005 English-language French action film directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen. It is the sequel to The Transporter (2002) and the second installment in the Transporter franchise. It stars Jason Statham as Frank Martin, with Alessandro Gassmann, Amber Valletta, Kate Nauta, François Berléand, Matthew Modine, and Jason Flemyng. In the film, Frank Martin (Statham) is tasked with protecting the young son of politician Jefferson Billings (Modine) from an international drugs cartel.

Transporter 2 was theatrically released in France on 3 August 2005, by EuropaCorp, and was released in the United States on 2 September by 20th Century Fox. It received mixed reviews from critics with praise for Statham's performance, action sequences and direction, but criticism for its screenwriting. It grossed $89.1 million worldwide and was followed by the sequel Transporter 3 (2008).

Plot

Frank Martin has relocated from southern France to Miami, Florida where, as a favor to a friend, he becomes the temporary chauffeur for wealthy Audrey and Jefferson Billings. Frank bonds with their son Jack, picking him up from elementary school after subduing a gang of carjackers who try to steal his new Audi A8 W12. Preparing for a visit from his friend Inspector Tarconi, Frank rebuffs the drunken advances of Audrey, whose marriage has become strained.

When Frank takes Jack for a medical checkup, he realizes that impostors have killed the real doctor and receptionist. A lengthy fight erupts with the imposters, led by the trigger-happy Lola, but Frank escapes with Jack. Returning to the Billings' house, Frank receives a phone call explaining that he and Jack are in the sights of a sniper capable of penetrating the car's bulletproof glass. Forced at gunpoint to let Lola in the car and evade the police, Frank is taken to Gianni Chellini, the operation's ringleader, who demands a $5 million ransom from the Billings. The kidnappers leave with Jack, while Frank succeeds in removing an explosive from his car a split-second before detonation.

Assuring Audrey of his innocence, Frank recovers a syringe left by the kidnappers at the doctor's office, while Jack is found seemingly unharmed. With Tarconi's help, Frank tracks down one of the kidnappers, Dimitri, and pretends to inject him with the syringe. He follows Dimitri to a makeshift lab, where he fights off another henchman and discovers the kidnappers have manufactured a deadly and highly contagious virus; Jack has been infected, passing the virus to his parents. Frank is forced to kill Dimitri, while Chellini's scientist hurls the antidote out of the window. Retrieving one dose intact, Frank sneaks into the Billings' home, warning Audrey and using the antidote on Jack.

Jefferson, head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, addresses a conference of heads of anti-drug organizations from around the world, unknowingly infecting them all. Frank races to Chellini's home, defeating his henchmen but discovering that Chellini has injected himself with the remaining supply of antidote. Chellini explains that the Colombian drug cartels hired him to eliminate their enemies, and that Frank cannot kill him and risk losing the antidote. Chellini leaves Lola to deal with Frank, who fatally impales her on a wine rack.

Chellini escapes by helicopter to a waiting jet to Colombia, while Frank steals his Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster and speeds to the airport, climbing into the jet's nose gear as it takes off. Killing the co-pilot, Frank confronts Chellini, who holds him at gunpoint. In the ensuing scuffle, the pilot is killed and the plane crash-lands in the ocean. Frank incapacitates Chellini while preserving the antidote in his bloodstream, pulling them out of the sinking plane as the police arrive.

At the hospital, the Billings are given the antidote and Jack has made a full recovery. After visiting the Billings in the hospital along with Jack, Frank drives Tarconi to the airport. After dropping off Tarconi in the airport with his car, Frank receives an unexpected call from someone who is looking for a transporter, in which he responds: "I'm listening".

Cast

Reception

Transporter 2 opened in the United States on 2 September 2005. During its opening weekend, the film grossed $16.5 million in the U.S.[5] In total, it earned $43 million in the U.S. and $85 million worldwide.[2]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 52% based on reviews from 122 critics and an average rating of 5.4/10, with the reported consensus: "A stylish and more focused sequel to The Transporter, the movie is over-the-top fun for fans of the first movie."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score 56 out of 100, based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[8]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 3 stars out of 4 and said it was better than the original.[9] Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post gave it a negative review and wrote: "Statham isn't the best thing in Transporter 2; he's essentially the only thing."[10]

Director Louis Leterrier stated that Frank Martin was "the first gay action movie hero", suggesting that the character comes out when he refuses a woman's advances by saying, "It's because of who I am."[11] This is contradicted by the first film in the series, in which Martin sleeps with a woman, and Transporter 3, which Leterrier did not direct, in which Martin develops a heterosexual relationship. Asked his opinion of the third film, Leterrier stated that after re-watching his first two films "they aren't that gay".[12]

Music

Transporter 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
Released6 September 2005 (2005-09-06)
GenrePop, rock
Length57:05
LabelTVT Records
ProducerVarious Artists
Singles from Transporter 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  1. "Saviour"
    Released: 2005
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[13]
IGN[14]

The soundtrack album for Transporter 2 was released in the United States on 6 September 2005 by TVT Records. It features sixteen tracks recorded by various artists, including the film score composed by Alexandre Azaria. James Christopher Monger from Allmusic rated the album three stars out of five, citing Grand National's "Talk Amongst Yourselves", Anggun's "Saviour" and Mylo's "Paris Four Hundred" as the highlights of the soundtrack.[13]

Soundtrack

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Naughty Girl"Alexandre AzariaAlexandre Azaria1:28
2."Cells"Dan BlackThe Servant4:50
3."Icarus"Amen BirdmenAmen Birdmen5:02
4."Painful" (Morphium Mix)BrunelloSin4:00
5."Main Theme"Alexandre AzariaAlexandre Azaria4:09
6."Life Support"Dave Cobb, Dimitris Koutsiouris, Toby MarriottThe Strays2:56
7."Body"Dan BlackThe Servant4:46
8."Talk Amongst Yourselves"Lawrence RuddGrand National4:31
9."Kendo"Alexandre AzariaAlexandre Azaria1:20
10."Saviour"Anggun C. Sasmi, Evelyne Kral, Frederic JaffreAnggun3:44
11."Revolution"Camus Mare CelliKate Nauta3:41
12."Paris Four Hundred"Myles MacinnesMylo3:36
13."Can You Handle It?"Sebo K.Shakedown4:04
14."Chase"Ross Bonney, Adam Goemans, Ramsay Miller, Scott RinningCinematics3:52
15."Voodoo Child"Laurent DaumailAfu-Ra, DJ Cam3:13
16."Jet Boxing"Alexandre AzariaAlexandre Azaria2:19
Total length:50:05

Home media

In 2006, Louis Leterrier re-released an uncensored version of Transporter 2 on DVD. The uncensored release is roughly 25 seconds longer than the theatrical cut, and contains improved CGI, particularly during the car chase from the hospital as well as the private jet scene. This release also contains more violent footage and blood during the fight scenes, and contains more nudity in certain scenes with Lola. It is available in Japan (R2 NTSC), France and the UK (both R2 PAL), as well as Thailand (R3 NTSC). It is also available on Blu-ray Disc in France and Japan (both releases are region-free). The Blu-ray was temporarily banned in North America for legal reasons, but has since been re-released. The uncensored fight footage as well as a longer car chase scene was only featured as deleted scenes on the US DVD release. Also the deleted footage included the killing of the doctor.

Sequel

Main article: Transporter 3

A 2008 sequel, entitled Transporter 3, was released in the U.S. on 26 November 2008. The film follows Frank Martin as he returns to France. It is the only film in the Transporter trilogy to be distributed by Lionsgate in the US.

References

  1. ^ "Le Transporteur 2 (2005)". www.unifrance.org. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "Transporter 2". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  3. ^ "Transporter 2 (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 1 September 2005. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  4. ^ "The Transporter II (2005)". JP's Box-Office. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. ^ Brandon Gray (6 September 2005). "'Transporter 2' Drives to Labor Day Record". Box Office Mojo.
  6. ^ "Transporter 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. 2 September 2005. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Transporter 2". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Home". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  9. ^ Ebert, Roger (1 September 2005). "Silly sequel is quite transporting". Chicago Sun-Times.
  10. ^ Hunter, Stephen (2 September 2005). "'Transporter 2': Jason Statham's Going Places". Washington Post.
  11. ^ Lee, Chris (2 September 2005). "An action hero angle". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  12. ^ Lee, Chris (29 November 2008). "'The Transporter,' gay action hero?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  13. ^ a b James Christopher Monger (6 September 2005). "Original Soundtrack Transporter 2". Allmusic.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  14. ^ "Transporter 2 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - IGN". Au.ign.com. 2 September 2005. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
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